Abstract
The regional landscape is a product of close long-term interrelationships between the natural environment and human culture and lifestyles. In recent years modernization and accompanying changes in lifestyles are drastically impacting traditional landscape patterns, including forest landscapes. This study utilizes GIS data to understand how Japanese forests have changed over a long period. Using LUIS (Land Use Information System) as land use and land cover data was obtained for all of Japan, for 1990, 1950 and 1985. Changes noted over this 85 year time period were correlated with various environmental factors. As various environmental factors, we used climatic data, altitude data, and land form data. The vast majority of areas retained some type of forest cover over the entire 85 year period. Of these, a little more than half retained the same forest type, while the other showed a change in type. Areas that retained broad-leaved forest concentrated in the cool temperate zone, and mixed forest concentrated in the warm temperate and semi temperate zone, on steep mountainsides at elevations between 250 and 1000 meters. On the other hand, many sections of broad-leaved forest changed to mixed forest due to the timber plantation policy. Some areas changed from forest to urban or agricultural land between 1900 and 1985. The greater metropolitan areas surrounding Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, where the growing demand for food caused forest to change to paddy and dry field in the surrounding areas. In eastern Hokkaido is an area where broad-leaved forest changed to large-scale pasture and agricultural land concentrated in the cool temperate zone, and at lower elevations with relatively flat and volcanic ash sand plateau topography. The greatest changed area from other land use to forest, was from open area to forest between 1900 and 1985.
